MY ACCOUNT
7 People Honored in December 2018 Broken Wand
Category: Broken Wand Posted by: C. DENNIS SCHICK
BROKEN WAND DECEMBER 2018
GRANVILLE E. BROOKS
Granville Eddie Brooks, 79, of Wichita, Kansas, died October 16, 2018. He was a former member of the I.B.M. (2002-2009). Born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, he was a U.S. Army veteran, retired from Excel Meat Packing, and was a Mac-certified tool repairman. Survivors include son, Jamario (Cadace); daughters, Monique (Jason) Brooks, and Mary Ann Briggs-Brooks; sisters, Joyce (Jessie) Wilson, and Janet (Sam) Hopkin; brothers, Melvin (Bettie) and Sylvester Curry; eight grandchildren; and sixteen great-grandchildren.
JOHN J. CARLANCE
Recently the I.B.M. Headquarters Office received notice that John J. Carlance, 82, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, died August 18, 2018. He was a former member of the I.B.M. (1956-1962).
HARRY R. GALLANT
Harry Ralph Gallant, 87, of Richmond, Virginia, died November 1, 2018. His I.B.M. membership number was 25520. He had been a member since 1973 (forty-five years). He was a member of the Order of Merlin Shield (thirty-five years a continuous member). Originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he also lived in Hopewell, Virginia. He was a member of Ring 180 (Richmond, Virginia). He was a retired instructor at the Army Logistics Management College at Fort Lee, Virginia. He always had one or more tricks in his pockets to show anyone who would stop and watch. He always wore colorful Hawaiian shirts everywhere he went. He had more than one thousand decks of cards. Survivors include his daughters, Deborah (Joseph) Kern, and Karen Gallant (Brian Pennington); grandchildren Ashley (Josh) Fisher; Chase (May) Chewning; Brittany Chewning, and Maxx Chewning; three great-grandchildren; and brother, Jack (Mary). His obituary said, “In lieu of flowers, please say hello to a stranger or do something kind for someone.”
KENNETH T. HAMILTON
Kenneth Trevor Hamilton, 88, of Toronto, Canada, died October 20, 2018. He was a former I.B.M. member (1978-2013). He was a member of the Order of Merlin Shield (thirty-five years a member). He also was a member of Ring 99 (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) and Ring 17 (Toronto, Ontario, Canada). He was retired from Bell Canada, and was a military bluff, especially loving the pipes and drums. A former member of the Irish Regiment of Canada, he also loved magic, bird-watching, and genealogy. Survivors include his wife, Myrle; children Cynthia (Tim), Kenneth (Kara), and Douglas; and six grandchildren. Memorial contributions may be made to Sunnybrook Hospital Foundation (K Wing).
RICKY JAY
Ricky Jay, 72, of Los Angeles, California, died November 24, 2018. He was multi-talented — as a magician, actor, scholar, special effects consultant, and author. Born Richard Jay Potash in Brooklyn, New York, the family soon moved to Elizabeth, New Jersey. He developed an interest in magic at any early age, and performed in public for the first time at age four. But his disciplined intellect led him far beyond doing magic tricks. He had to know the history and evolution of each magic effect. He wrote eleven books. He performed one-man shows (“Ricky Jay and his 52 Assistants”). He acted in the movies (in the James Bond film “Tomorrow Never Dies” and Burt Reynolds’ film “Boogie Nights,” among forty) and on television (he was also a popular guest on late-night talk shows). He was profiled in a documentary (“Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay”) and in The New Yorker. The New Yorker profile said, “He built his fame with an out-in-left-field brand of gonzo-hip comedy magic, a combination of chops and artistic irreverence.” He was widely known for his talent of flinging cards, especially to stick in watermelons. One of his books was entitled “Cards as Weapons.” He and his partner Michael Weber formed a company, “Deceptive Practices,” which consulted on movies and television shows regarding magic and gambling scenes. In 2002 he married Chrisann Verges, who survives.
ROGER MARCHESE
Roger Marchese, 93, of Oakland, New Jersey, died August 12, 2018. He held membership number 25134 in the I.B.M. since 1972 (forty-six years). He was a member of the Order of Merlin Shield (thirty-five years a continuous member). He also was a member of Ring 113 (Bergen County, New Jersey). Born in Paterson, New Jersey, his family moved to Wyckoff in 1937, then to Oakland in 1958. He served in the U.S. Navy, and graduated with his wife from Montclair Teacher’s College (now Montclair State University). He taught in several school systems in New Jersey, and was the principal in one. He retired in 1982, and then continued to work for Fairleigh Dickenson University as a student teacher supervisor for eighteen years. He was an avid tennis player, golfer, magician, card player, and traveler. Survivors include his wife of sixty-nine years, Ruth; son, Kim (Linda); daughter, Susan (Terry) Green; and two grandchildren, Kevin (Maya), and Michele (Jonathan) Preuss. Memorial contributions may be made to The Paget Foundation at www.nof.org.
MOI-YO MILLER
Moi-Yo Miller, 104, of Geelong, Victoria, Australia, died October 7, 2018. Moi-Yo Miller was the stage name of Mona Loretta Miller, an Australian entertainer who toured the world as a magician’s assistant to stage magician Dante (a.k.a. Harry Jansen) during the 1930s and 1940s. She met Dante while she was in her teens, when she was appearing in a musical review in Melbourne and he was on tour. She dated Dante’s son, Bill, and went to work for Dante, staying with him the rest of his performing career. She was his main assistant, and was considered one of the best all-time magician’s assistants. She was featured in the 2008 movie documentary “Women in Boxes.” Walter “Zaney” Blaney tells the story of his late friend, Phil Temple (obituary in the November issue), who years ago somehow discovered that Moi-Yo was living near him in the Portland area. He contacted her and her husband Arturo Montes. Arturo was Dante’s number one assistant, his stage manager, and chief repairman for Dante’s props. Phil invited them to a big magic convention and they reluctantly went. People were delighted to meet them and they made many more appearances at magic conventions to talk about the “Dante Years.”
As we end 2018, we still have too many magicians who we have been told have died, for whom we have little information. If you know any of these people, please help us pay tribute to them with an obituary. Send information to Dennis Schick, at crylds@att.net: Scott Compton (Florida), Ken Fryer (England), Bill Hagan (Georgia), Ward Hall, David Mayer (Illinois), Eric Michels (England), Edward Middleton (California), Paul Potassy, Jack Purvis (England), Joseph Sheik (Arizona), John Szewczyk (Illinois), Richard Tomzak (Michigan), James Vance (Texas), and Edward Wigglesworth (Missouri).
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